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Serial Saturday-Flicker Part 6

This one was fun to write! Enjoy!

The minute Rowen heard the Nightmare fall; she
stiffened and took a step back. She heard footsteps crunch in the snow, then
all was silent. Jerking around, she tripped over something, probably the
Nightmare, and stumbled. When she caught her balance, she felt someone right
beside her and took a deep breath.
“Don’t be afraid.” she heard. She caught her breath as she felt him
lean closer.

“Stop it.” she snapped, turning around and
slammed her foot into the person. They ducked, but it caught his shirt and she
was jerked forward by their movement.

“I said don’t freak out!” they groaned. It was a
male, in fact, it almost sounded like the Nightmare.
“No, you said don’t be afraid, there’s a difference.” she said. He
sighed.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I should be asking you that.” she answered.

“Fine! I’ll leave you in the snow, blindfolded
and without a cloak, then when Seth wakes up, he’s going to be mad and probably
hold her arm the whole trip to the palace.” he snapped. Rowen hesitated.

“My name is Rowen.” she said. “Is Seth the...the
one on the ground?”

“Yes. My name is Sale, I’m his brother.” he
said. Her blindfold came off and she blinked, shielding her eyes from the large
amount of light reflecting off of the snow. When her eyes had adjusted, she saw
Sale.

He had dark hair like Seth, but his eyes were
light instead of dark. He looked very similar to Seth in that he had the same
build, but his skin was darker. Instead of a full body armored suit, he wore a
vest with the sleeves cut off, even in the winter. He carried two swords, but
it was a smaller sword than one the townspeople used. In fact, it was the same
sword the guards at the supply building carried, long and slender.

“Why did Seth have you?” he asked, slicing
through her ropes. Rowen glanced at him, then back at the tree next to her.

“Um, we differ on an opinion.” she said,
unwilling to reveal the fact that she was a rebel.

“What opinion?” he asked. She hesitated.

“Um, I don’t really want to say. Thanks, but I
have to go find my brother.” she said. He frowned and glanced at her, scanning
her clothes. His gaze caught on the scarlet band wrapped around her arm. She
had her sleeve covering it, but it was slipping. He raised his eyebrows.

“You’re a part of that rebellion?” he
asked. She nodded, pushing it back up.

“My brother tried to join the real rebellion,
but they said he was too young at the time. I wouldn’t join without him, so we
help lead the smaller one.” she said. He laughed.

“How old is your brother?” he asked. “I mean,
you’re even young!”

“No, we’re twins.” she said. He stopped laughing
and stared at her.

“You just said you wouldn’t join without him,
why would they accept you if you were the same age as your brother?” he asked.
Rowen hesitated again. “Stop hesitating.” he said.

“I look older than he did. We were thirteen at
the time, but I looked fifteen. He hadn’t quite reached his...manhood.” she
said.

“But what about
now?” he asked. She shrugged.

“We’re doing great
with the smaller rebellion.” She answered. He snorted.

“The Young
Rebellion is a joke; it’s made up of a bunch of kids who weren’t accepted into
the real rebellion.” He told her. Rowen stiffened and reached
reflexively for an arrow, only to have her hand grasp at nothing. “Oh, so
you’re actually a fighter. I though all of the girls in the Young Rebellion
were nurses.” He raised his eyebrows at her and she stepped forward, pulling
one of his swords out before he could move. He pulled his remaining one out and
took a stance.

“You just trashed
my family, and all of my sisters,” she stated, “take that back.”
“No way.” He said, twirling his
katana. Rowen spun towards him, faking a slice and when he brought his sword up
to block it, she spun the other way. His ducked and stepped back.

“You’re pretty good,
you’ve trained with a sword, but not as long as I have.” He commented.

“Trust me, I’ve
practiced enough.” She snapped, slamming her hilt into his hand. He dropped his
katana and caught it with his other hand, spinning around. Their swords clashed
together and Rowen pulled back immediately.

“Just stop!” he
told her. She slammed her elbow into his stomach and he jerked back. Her foot
buried itself into his chest and he hit the ground. Her sword was at his neck
in a moment and she watched him lean his head on the ground, his eyes closed.

“Fine, you win.” He
said. Rowen pulled back and watched him jump up from the ground. She handed him
her sword.

“You are really
good, but at the end you gave up.” She said. He coughed and shook his head.

“Uh, yeah.” He
glanced away. Rowen shrugged.

“I know why you did
it. You didn’t want to keep fighting me because you were afraid I would get
hurt.” She said. He looked up and shrugged, pulling his sword out to clean.

“I would have
sooner or later, by accident.” He said. She shrugged and shivered as a gust of
wind blew through the air. “I do apologize for what I said about the Young
Rebellion, you are perfectly capable of joining the re-other rebellion.”
“I know, they actually came a few
months ago and tried to get us to join, but we have a family in the camp and in
the village by the palace.” She said. He stopped cleaning his sword.
“You know people in the village?” He
asked. She nodded and his eyebrows rose. “I would go around the village and
make sure to tell the people who do know you and might be asked to tell them
minimal information.” He said. Rowen frowned.

“Are you saying
he’s going to look for me there?” she asked. Sale nodded and she took off in
the direction of the village.

<<<>>>

Rogen sat on his
cot in his tent and glanced at the empty one beside him. Unlike most siblings
who slept with another girl or another boy, eh and Rowen shared a tent so that
they would never be separated at night. Of course at night they had to do
missions, but they wanted to be together as much as possible.

He sighed and
dropped his head, jerking it up as a cry went through the camp. He jumped up
and ran out of the tent, looking around for the object of the cry. A group of
people crowded around somebody and he saw a face. It was a boy, one who looked
very similar to the Nightmare. Then he saw the fluffy curl floating beside him
in the wind. Rowen.
He broke into a run and pushed people
aside. Rowen saw him a few seconds before he slammed into her. Instead of
falling, Rogen swung to the side, carrying her with him.

“Rogen!” she
coughed. He hugged her tighter and she gave him, squeezing him back. Rogen
looked around at the people staring at them and studied the man she had come
with.

He was another
Nightmare, his sister had been in the hands of two Nightmares, and the first
one was a heartless, brutal, fighting machine who had been subdued momentarily
by her, was she hurt? The second, well, she was here instead of the palace, so
he guessed that he didn’t work with his brother. He was also wearing the black
ribbon around his arm, the mark of a “real” rebel.

“Hey, are you ok?”
he asked. “Did they hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine.” She
said. “That man smacked Seth on the head with something-”

“It was an arrow
with a rock attached to the bottom.” He called out. Rowen waved a hand in his
direction.

“Yeah, that.” She
said. “I was untied, and then he insulted the Young Rebellion and all of the
girls in it, so I fought him. He let me win though.”

“You fought-Rowen!”
Rogen sighed. “Why would you do that?”

“Because!” she
shouted back. “If he had insulted the young rebellion, you would have attacked
him too!” she sighed.

“Yeah, but if he
hurt me, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.” He told her. “You’re a-”

“A what?” she
snapped. “A girl?” she sighed and glared at him. “I joined this regardless of
if I am a girl or boy; I have the skill they needed. I am not going to let
someone insult my family and just stand there.”

“But Rowen, what if
he hadn’t let you win?” he asked. “You would have been-”

“I would have
fought him until I literally couldn’t anymore.” She said.

“That’s what I’m
afraid of.” He sighed. Rowen nodded and glanced around.
“I’m exhausted, it’s nighttime, and I
went all the way to the village to warn Ezra.” She said. Rogen raised his
eyebrows.

“Oh, so you guys
think he’s going to ask about you in the village?” he asked. Rowen nodded.

“Yes, we do. You
trust me right?” Rowen asked. Rogen nodded and put an arm around her shoulder,
sliding his other one under her legs and lifting her up. She laughed. “Rogen,
what are you doing?” she asked.
“I am not letting go until I can
confidently say you aren’t in danger.” He said. She laughed again and laid her
head on his shoulder.

“Ok, I trust you.”
she said. He grinned at her and ducked into their tent. Laying her on her cot,
he sat on his and held her hand. She squeezed it and smiled at him, her eyelids
dropping. She was soon asleep and then and only then did Rogen let go. She
moved her head and her hand reached for his again. So he held it.

The man who had
come with Rowen ducked into his tent and sat beside him. Rogen glanced at him
and raised his eyebrows.

“Um, you’re the guy
who helped her right?” he asked. The man nodded.

“I’m Sale.” He
said. Rogen nodded.

“I’m Rogen.” He
said. “Thank you.” Sale shrugged.

“It was nothing.”
He said. “You guys have a special relationship.” He commented. Rogen nodded.

“There aren’t many
siblings out there who love each other like Rowen and I do. It might be because
we are twins, but…” he trailed off and Sale shook his head.

“No, I have a
brother, Seth. I believe most people call him the Nightmare. He’s older, but he
was always…untrustworthy, rebellious, roguish if you asked me. My father chose
me to inherit the throne, but I never liked the whole royal life thing, it
wasn’t what I enjoyed. At parties, I would hide from the girls my dad wanted me
to meet. So I left, joined the rebellion.”

“Wow, you guys
sound…interesting.” Rogen commented. “Rowen and I were always close, probably
because our older brother was a terror. He was horribly mean to Rowen because
she was a girl. One day, I looked around the farm and she wasn’t there. I
freaked out and started tracking her. I found broken sticks in the forest, she
left me her leather hair tie on a rock, scuffed in the mud, you know stuff like
that. I tracked her to a field. My brother was teaching her to use a real bow
with real arrows. She enjoyed it, but I regret letting her do it sometimes,
she’s harder than she used to be. She hasn’t killed anyone yet, but I have no
doubt she will soon, and I’m worried that it won’t bother her.”
“Where did she learn to use the
sword?” Sale asked. “It’s true, I did let her win, but she’s very good, one of
the best I’ve seen in a while.” Rogen shrugged.

“I don’t know.
She-she won’t tell me where she learned it. One day, we were out in the field
playing, we were like twelve maybe, and a group of bandits came up. They
started to attack us, but Rowen managed to grasp one of their swords. The fight
was over in less than a minute.” He explained.

:D Thank you! The reason it was fun and easy to write was because I just pulled my bro into the story. I love my bro so much, and the funny thing is, we kind of look alike. I have a pic on my about me page with him in it. :D